WET CELL BATTERIES

The most widely used battery type on a canal boat is the wet cell lead acid battery.

What does that mean...

So called because they use a liquid electrolyte. In the case of batteries for our canal boat market, we use lead acid wet cell batteries.

The active ingredients are lead for plates and sulphuric acid for the electrolyte.

Cells produce 2.1 volts with internal construction determining amp output. We commonly find cells cased together in 6‘s to form the familiar 12VDC starter/leisure battery. Pay more for a tougher/heavier construction & you will usually gain in terms of product life cycles.

Safetry First...
Regard has to be given to safety. They can spill electrolyte if mishandled or poorly installed and produce potentially explosive gases during heavy use. They are heavy so consideration should also be given to maintenance access and ballast requirements when planning your installation.

Different Types...
Wet cell lead acid batteries are available for user self maintenance or sealed for life maintenance free. Whilst the convenience of maintenance free is hard to argue with, the very nature of the wet cell means that longer life will usually be achieved if you are prepared to do simple checks and topping up. This is especially the case for the leisure bank as the many charge/discharge cycles will inevitably deplete the electrolyte to gassing over time.

For this reason these types of batteries must always be installed in ventilated battery boxes in conjunction with the BSS.

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